


Infiltration

by Mund_Ebranto



Category: Worm - Wildbow
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:05:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10558448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mund_Ebranto/pseuds/Mund_Ebranto
Summary: Shadow Stalker "goes to another city".Arcadia High have a new student. The Wards are told to keep an eye on her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I trust my writing skills, English isn't my native language: mistakes are bound to happen. Should you find one, your pointing it out would be apreciated.
> 
> I'm trying to be as vague as I can in the sumary, because I belive that you get the most out of a reading experience knowing as little as possible about it beforehand.

**Infiltration**

ONE

 

— I —

 

Similarly to an H Arcadia consisted of two larger buildings connected by a third. School grounds, however, extended to quite a large area for a school in the city. Looks alone were enough to see the contrast between it and Winslow High. In another universe — one where Emma never was my friend or one where she never turned on me — maybe I'd have starred in awe. But here… here I just gave it a tired glance before entering.

The middle building is where the administration was focused. I needed to see the principal before entering. I kept looking around while I walked.

Shining clean halls, reminding me that this was a _good_ school. A school with competent staff, a school without gangs forming grouping at every corner, a school with people willing to help others.

_A school where superheroes go to._

I stopped walking. Anger flared through me. I needed to calm down. Take big breaths, transfer my anger to my bugs.

It still took me almost a minute to compose myself.

Superheroes… The Wards. They’d be watching. At the very least they’d review the camera feeds of me. This was going to be hard to pull of. Still, I much rather having them constantly on my toes than having to deal with all the bullying.

I heard an explosion, far, far away in the city and knocked on the principal’s door. “Come in.”

Bleached hair and colorful clothes, the woman inside seemed nice. She was behind a dark wooden desk, looking at something in her computer. She turned to me and standed up. “Vice-principal Howell,” She said, extending a hand for me to shake, “the principal is in a meeting with some parents. Taylor Hebert, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“Would you kindly, sit down? I promise this won’t take long.” She gestured at the chair right in front of her. I seated.

She relaxed a bit. Probably expecting a bit of resistance. There was a short silence before she continues. “Ms. Hebert, before you headed to class, there’s some things I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. I already knew what she wanted to talk about and was prepared for it, but you can never be too careful.

“Before we go on, I’d like to say that I read what happened, and… I'm really sorry for what you went through.”

“Thanks.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I can promise you that anything even near that will happen here. I won’t allow it.”

My shoulders relaxed. I already knew it — people treated each other well around her. If for anything, because anyone could be a Ward; and the school also couldn’t afford the reputation a bullying campaign would give if found out. Still, the reassurance was nice. It made me feel more confident.

“Thank you.”

Howell gave me a faint smile before continuing.

“Ms. Hebert… Taylor. Do you mind if I call you Taylor?”

“Not at all”

“Well, Taylor, as you’re surely aware, we have a very, very large waiting list,” she said. I already knew where this was going. “You usually can’t just transfer here.”

“I am aware.”

“We do make exceptions, however. When the PRT asked us to transfer you, and considering the current situation…” I tensed a bit. She was talking about Bakuda. The gangster had been bombing random places at random times. Keeping everyone on edge. “In all honesty I thought you were a new Ward. But…”

“But it turns out instead joining their team, I made it one member short,” I finished.

“Yes. And this is exactly the point I was getting at. See, the PRT has instructed me to question you about how found out Shadow Stalker's identity.”

The name still made me clench my fists. Sophia was the reason why Emma turned on me, the reason for all the bulling.

I hated her. Maybe not as much as I hated Emma for using my secrets against me to get in the good side of a ‘superhero’, but I hated her. When I found out I nearly went on a Carrie-like rampage against the Trio. After all, they had a _superhero_ to protect them (or die trying). Thankfully, I got back to my senses before doing anything so drastic.

I still hated her.

“I saw her using her powers.” Principal Howell gave me a look. “She was careful, but being a stranger, her powers were probably the easiest way to quickly get away so she could do her superhero-things. I just needed to see it for a moment.”

“And you were confident enough to tell the PRT with just a glance of her using her powers?” Howell asked. She seemed skeptic. _Shit_.

“Not really,” I answered. “I just decided that the possibility of me being right was worth the risk of me being wrong and embarrassing myself. I was really only sure when I called the PRT and they reacted the way they did.”

She relaxed a bit.

“Alright. Look I won’t pry, but if you’re leaving out any details, then…”

“I’m not.”

“Ok.” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. And typed something in her computer. “That would be all. Do you know your locker’s number?”

“No.”

“It’s — let me see… — locker number 204. The combination is 8573. Your things are already there, so is your schedule.”

“Got it.” I stood up and left.

My bugs couldn’t see the numbers in the lockers, but I could; and I could see the logic in it. Using them to get a general notion of where they were, it didn’t take long for me to find my locker near the gym.

I stopped short ten feet from it.

My legs were shaking, my eyes went wide. I could see it. The locker rotting, bugs crawling from below, bugs I couldn't control. I could feel them, though. There were more of them inside the locker, crawling in used tampons. I could feel a girl inside, crying. I could tell she was screaming, but no sound reached my ears. _What the fuck is this?_

And then, just as fast as it begun, it stopped.

The locker in front of me was just as new. No bugs I couldn’t control anywhere near it. No girl inside. I was sweating a little.

_I guess I’m not nearly as over it as I thought._

First class: World Issues. Teacher: Mr. Emerick. Hopefully, he wouldn’t nearly as bad as Mr. Gladly was.

The classroom, fortunately, was close to my locker. Didn’t take me a minute to get there.

Wooden door. Shining handle. I knocked.

The door opened almost immediately. Emerick wore social clothing: suit, tie and shiny shoes. Short hair, young face and big glasses. “Ah,” he said, “you must be the transfer student.” He had a reassuring smile. False, but convincing. If I hadn't spent enough time around manipulative people like Emma, maybe I wouldn’t have noticed.

Dragging me inside, he made a sound with his throat, silencing the room. “Guys, today we have a new student. She just transferred from Winslow High. Would you introduce yourself, dear?”

I went still for a second, but nodded right after. “Hi, my name is Taylor Hebert. I, um, transferred from Winslow High, just like Mr. Emerick said. And, yeah, I hope we can get along.”

Couldn't have gone better.

The teacher interrupted my thoughts. “Welcome to Arcadia, Taylor. Why don’t you sit over there besides Dean?” He pointed at an empty seat.

“Sure.”

As I seated down I saw the boy named Dean smiling at me. He was tall and handsome, something in his eyes seemed very reassuring. “Hey,” he started, “I’m Dean Stansfield. I hope can get along.” He extend his hand, like the vice-principal had just a few minutes before. I shook his hand saying a simple “Yeah” and almost smiled back.

Almost.

His name was familiar. I’d heard it before, I just didn’t knew where it was.

That meant I couldn’t trust him.

He frowned. _Why? I shook your hand. You should've kept smiling._

He quickly was back to a pleasant face. _Is he cold-reading me?_ I questioned. If that was the case then that could only mean one thing. _You’re a Ward, aren’t you?_ He turned back to the teacher. Too quick.

That was all confirmation I needed.


	2. Chapter 2

— II —

  


They were all costumed, arranged in a semicircle in the Wards HQ, Gallant excepted. Dean was at his personal quarters having a rather loud conversation with his girlfriend on the phone. They had a date he couldn’t attend, and Glory Girl never was of the understanding type.

The room was an individual, a cathedral of brood. It was big, large by any standards. Yet, it felt small in a way that couldn’t be described. The teenagers were in deep thought. Vista was using her cellphone, pretending not to be affected, but every minute or so she gave a glance to Dean’s quarters. Kid Win was with a laptop, writing a program for whatever device he had come up with. The noise of the keys being pressed were enough to clue in everyone in his mental state.

Clockblocker lied in the sofa, staring blankly at the timer on the big screen facing him. 42h 08min and 11s until the next tour guide. They all needed to be present and pretend to be the great responsible kid-heroes, thank you. He could make jokes, to humanize him — but only a few, you don’t want to make the tourists uncomfortable with your terrible timing and taste, _Dennis_.

It has nice to have people around adoring him. He loved having some fun and cracking up some jokes he knew peopled laugh (regardless of finding them funny), even with all the bullshit restriction the PRT made. Maybe it was a little poking at his own ego; but, with him constantly worried about his father, he felt he needed some being-put-on-a-pedestal. Sometimes — hardly ever, if he was being honest — it kept him sane.

Like now.

Bakuda bombing the city was already bad enough. She was a clear-cut psycho: destroying houses, houses, parks, schools–

( _hospitals)_

–and public places in general. Lots of harmed, a few crippled, likely some dead: that was the collateral damage of _one_ of her bombs. And he wasn’t even considering the cost. Dennis wasn’t into economy, but he could tell the explosions were chosen carefully.

And then, of course, Lung escapes.

They all should’ve expected it, really. Well, Armsmaster probably did. And maybe Piggot. The bombs were so devastating that they couldn’t afford having someone keeping an eye on Lung’s transport. And now they had to deal with the three ABB parahumans again. Except this time they were going mad.

A door opened behind Dennis. Gallant seated besides him on the sofa. He was quiet, which was unusual, and starred blankly ahead.

“Looks like you’re not so full of glory now,” he tried. It wasn’t a good joke, but at least it would lessen the mood, he hoped.

Gallant barely acknowledged it.

Dennis had suspicions of what was going on in his friend’s mind, but no certanties. They had important stuff to talk about: the third creator of distress. Aegis made a sound.

“So,” he started, “you said you had problem.”

“Yes,” Gallant answered. “A big one.”

Taylor Hebert. That girl was the third source of anxiety for the Wards. She was the reason why Shadow Stalker was in juvie — Sophia deserved it, no doubt about that, but being a member short in the sort of scenario they were in wasn’t reassuring. Not only that, the Hebert girl was threat to the PRT for what she knew, and _they_ ’d have to handle her. In their civilian identity, which should be completely unrelated to their cape identity. A time to rest. In a way, she took that away from them.

“Well?”

A long sight. “I fucked up.”

Dennis shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew Dean, they were good friends. He also knew that he didn’t just messed things up for no reason.

“What happened?” Aegis asked.

“I think she figured me out.”

Heads snapped in his direction. The Wards’ leader went still.

“Explain.”

“I was following the plan. Approaching her. Getting a sense of her with my powers. But then — I think she recognized my name from those articles about me and Victoria or something — right when I introduced myself she got suspicious. She doesn’t know _who_ I am, but knows I am a cape.”

Quietude for just a moment. The team thinking about the implications. Dennis thought about saying some comforting words, but someone else spoke before he could.

“How do you know she was suspecting you were a Ward?” Brownbeat asked. The superheroes turned to face him. “I mean, your powers makes you able to see people’s emotions, not why they’re feeling those emotions. Like you said, she could’ve recognized your name as Glory Girl’s boyfriend, but that’s it. That doesn’t mean she knows you’re part of the team.”

It was a good point. Dennis knew if he didn’t knew better, he’d have agreed with John. He glanced at Gallant and could tell that his friend was choosing his words carefully. A sensible approach. It was, ultimately, a scary skill.

“That would be true, yes. And I can see why you’d think I’m taking this out of proportion. But the thing is that, well, being the heir of my father’s company, I’ve been taught to read people. You know, body-language, voice tone, facial expressions — that kind of stuff. I’m not particularly good at it, but when combined with my powers…”

He let that hang.

That reminder didn’t do well  to their spirit. It was almost a relief when the computer screens went red and the an alarm started sounding: Bakuda attack. Not exactly a distraction, but at least they all had something else to focus on. Two minutes latter they were already outside the building, heading towards a bomb.

—//—

“So, how did it went?” Lisa asked me while I changed into my costume.

I  thought about what to say for a moment.

“It went… Well, it went exactly like you said it would.”

She grinned at that. “So who approached you?”

“Not sure. A guy called Dean Stansfield.”

Her laugh surprised me. It was sudden and loud. I could hear it’s echo coming from the door. By the time she stopped there were tears in her eyes.

“What was that about?”

“This Stanfield guy, he’s — oh, god, how the fuck didn’t I see this before? — he’s Glory Hole’s personal prize."

Her boyfriend? That super-rich dude? No wonder I knew the name. “Now I feel stupid for not noticing. Hey can you help me here for a minute?”

“Sure.”

She hold my costume so I could wear it, and closed the zipper. The problem with one-piece costumes is that they’re a pain to change into.

“Thanks,” I said when done.

“So how was this conversation with Glory’s wooer?”

“That’s the thing,” I said. “It was short, but it left me wondering.

“I think he was cold-reading me. The way he acted reminded me of you a bit. You know, as if he knew what I was thinking.”

Lisa frowned at that. She bit her thumb, looking at the ground. “That’s not good,” she said with a low voice. “I’ll look into that for you. You still have that thing I bought you last week, right?”

“Thanks. And yeah, I do.”

“Good. We should probably start using it.”

There was a comfortable silence. I grabbed my mask and went in the direction of the door. Lisa’s hand stopped me.

“Hey.”

I looked at her. “What?”

“There’s something else bothering you. What is it?”

Oh. She noticed.

_Of course she did._

“It’s… it’s nothing.”

“You and I both know that’s bullshit.”

“It’s just that — You know when I told you about my trigger?”

She nodded.

“I… you know, I was going to my locker. Grab my things. And then… I… I don’t know. I just found myself reliving the moment. Only this time I was outside. Watching.”

Lisa stared me for maybe a minute. She didn’t say a word, which was unusual. When she started moving, she walked right past me and turned around and completely changed the subject.

“So, ready to kick some ABB butts?”

I snorted.

—//—

His sweat was cold like a frozen lake. He couldn’t think straight. It had been so fucking close that he didn’t want to think about it. He couldn’t help it, though. _Everyone almost got killed._ If he hadn’t been there to freeze the bomb to give time, giving them precious minutes to do finish the evacuation…

 _At least we got her_.

Maybe it should comfort him, but no. He felt nothing towards Bakuda being arrested. She still had bombs around the city. Dragon herself assured them that they’d be handled. Still, you can never be fully sure.

Director Piggot was reviewing their performance in the conflict. Dennis was deaf to it. She’d ramble about property damage again. How they could’ve done everything a lot better etc, etc.

That was until she dropped one little sentence.

“Now that we have Bakuda _and_ Lung, we should probably schedule something.”

“I’m sorry, did I heard you say Lung was captured too?”

Piggot gave him a little smile. Ironic and perverse.

“You heard well. We received a call with information of Lung’s whereabouts. He was still there when Velocity got there.”

“And how Velocity arrested him?”

“The girl who called seems to have cut his eyes out.”

The Wards flinched. Piggot ignored them and moved to the next topic.

“Be aware that, with the gang war over, we’ll be hosting a fundraiser to boost the public opinion. I already talked with the mayor to arrange things. The moment we have a date and time, You’ll be notified. That’s it, you’re dismissed.

As the hours passed, the Wards were lifting their moods. Both Lung and Bakuda were captured. Armsmaster with the help of Velocity and Dauntless, found the rest of the bombs, deactivating them with Dragon’s help. In a single day almost every source of distress they had vanished.

Except one, and Howell’s report stashed in one of the tables in the HQ were a cold reminder of that. She had been tasked with making sure the girl felt as welcomed as possible. Ask questions — it would be suspicious if she didn’t —, but not to seek further information. Hebert had a bomb far less dangerous than Bakuda’s, but far, far more damaging to the PRT. The last thing they needed was to upset her further.

And besides, There was a better plan.

Most girls found Dean charming guy, and his powers made him perfect to the whole ordeal. It was simple, really: approach her; develop a friendship and start asking questions, pretending not know the answer; then, make it a strong friendship and start asking the _real_ questions.

And then the plan failed before it even begun.

Taylor Hebert was a bit of a mystery, knew a bit too much. She didn’t trust them. That much was obvious. No wonder, considering what Shadow Stalker had done to her.

Vista’d gotten _really_ pissed when she heard about the locker. And Dennis’d felt like throwing up. The moment they heard it they considered the chance she triggered. However, there were no sightings of new capes in the weeks surrounding the incident. It was still a possibility, of course, and should be handled as such — there was always potential for her to be a thinker or got some very subtle power, but considering the fact that Shadow Stalker felt no consequences for months after the incident, they felt that it was unlikely.

So, yeah, he could get why maybe she didn’t feel very much awe for them.

Still, he was kind of offended that she thought they were all like Sophia.

If only he could just talk to her. Maybe it was his superhero self talking, but despite being a threat, the girl felt vulnerable, small. He wanted to reassure her that she wouldn’t have face that ever again. But he couldn’t, it was a sure way of getting outed.

Unless…

“Hey,” Dennis said, interrupting a conversation he wasn’t paying attention to. His teammates looked at him. “About that thing with the Hebert girl. I think I have an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's another chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.  
> Just like before, I would appreciate if you pointed out any mistakes I might have made.


	3. Chapter 3

— III —

  


I was still tired to the bones when the third class started. It was my fault. I should’ve slept the moment I got home, muscles sore from the ABB raid and my mind in several conflicting thoughts. Yet, what I did instead was to decide on plan of action. Lisa gave a name before I went home: “Gallant”. She said it was so easy to find out it was boring. She probably already would’ve his name at ready when I told his name if she wasn’t… helping me to sort things out with Winslow High.

I had lied to the vice-principal, I’d never actually seen Sophia use her powers. Truth was a lot simpler, Lisa noticed I had something going on at school the day I joined the Undersiders. After the boss decided to green-light the bank robbery, Lisa decided to check on me. To see if I was up to the task.

Maybe she’d figured out I was a hero and decided to lure me to the dark side. Maybe she just knew I had a moral dilemma regarding the job and tried to comfort me or something. Right now I couldn’t care less. She had been waiting for me outside. She saw me when I was leaving and waved. It didn’t last long. Sophia’d chosen that moment to trip me in the stairs, making me fall face-first into the ground. How it didn’t break my nose is a mystery.

She accompanied me home. Silent all the way through. Immerse in her own thoughts, or maybe just thinking the best thing to say was not to say. We reached my house and stopped short. She grabbed my hand and her firmness dropped any urges I had to enter. We just stood there, looking at the old painting of my house’s walls for almost a minute. Then she spoke.

I heard her. I heard and understood the four words each by each, but I couldn’t grasp any meaning on them together. They were alien and incongruent, it just didn’t make sense and my mind couldn’t understand the message, like that sentence created by Noam Chomsky: _Colorless green ideas sleep furiously._

So, I asked for clarification.

And she repeated the same four words. I understood them this time.

“Sophia is Shadow Stalker.”

By the end of the bank robbery I decided to stick to the Undersiders. I figured that, was she manipulating me, perhaps it was better to stick with manipulators that at least didn’t make your life so miserable to the point that, hadn’t I gotten my powers, I’d probably have killed myself.

Well, maybe not. Not unless they pulled something at least as bad as the locker. I have no doubt they eventually would, though.

That said, I still had some concerns when she proposed the plan. Was she going to backstab me after going through the problem of assuring I’d have my mind as a _member_ of the team instead of an _intruder_? Was she going insane? I mean, what kind of plan is this? Befriending the Wards. The risk were far, far greater than the benefits. Not unless she already had something in mind.

I couldn’t say the prospects of Sophia getting what she deserved didn’t excite me, however.

The teacher — Ms. Jordan, History — started talking. I already had learned that specific content and she didn’t seem to be adding anything new. My old teacher used to explain things without a care for the students understanding. I could keep up, but I could tell most people couldn’t. Ms. Jordan actually took her time to make sure everyone understood.

Since I already knew what she had to say I ignored her and kept my mind busy figuring out how I’d handle Gallant. I knew he could use lasers to alter people’s emotions, like he did to Bitch when they fought, but that was about it. Maybe he had some secondary power? It didn’t seem like a stretch to think so, but Lisa never mentioned it. If there was a secondary power, it was a secret. Thinker? It’d explain his odd behavior, and why he was the first to approach. I’d need to be careful around him, then. Even if I was just being paranoid, in that particular scenario it’d better if I overestimated the Wards instead of underestimating them.

I was still dwelling in my thoughts, when someone tapped me.

He sat in the desk next to mine. Wearing a green top, a stylized haircut and a friendly smile. “You’re the new student, right?,” he asked. “I’m Will.”

I took a few seconds to answer: “Taylor.”

What was up with this guy? Was he a Ward? So soon after I contacted Gallant? That striked me as a _very_ stupid move, so probably not. I decided to tag him with my bugs regardless.

His smile widened. “Welcome to the club. I transferred, like, two months ago.”

So he too was a recent transfer. Maybe I’d have felt less weary, but the timing seamed off. Brownbeat was a very recent addition to the Wards, however, if the PRT transferred them to Arcadia around the same period as they joined the cape scene, then there’d be no need for them to wear masks.

He could be him. Probably not, but could be.

“You already had this part in Winslow?” What was he…? Oh, the class.

“Yeah.”

“How was it like there?”

“I… don’t want to talk about it.”

“That bad?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I repeated, giving a bit more of hostility in my voice.

“Ok,” he said, and added quickly, “sorry.”

He quieted down and left me alone. I’d scared him away. A shame, really. Will seamed nice, he was just asking the wrong questions at the wrong time.

The rest of the class passed quickly. I almost jumped when the bell rang. It was lunch time now. In Winslow, I’d sit in the desk nearest to the door so I could run. Part of me still wanted to do that, but the seat was already taken, and, really, if got afraid of every human interaction the trio’d haunt me forever.

That didn’t mean old habits were easy to break though and the moment the class ended I gathered my things as fast as the hummingbird flaps their wings. In three seconds I’d be out; but them, the boy named Will spoke to me again.

“Hey, wanna lunch with me and the guys?”

His behavior was still suspicious. I wished I had Lisa’s powers, just so I could see what he was up to. It wouldn’t be a problem for long, but it still was a bother. I tried to come up with some reasons why he’d be acting the way he was:

Maybe he was on to slender girls and took interests on me. (Unlikely.)

Maybe he thought I was a new Ward and figured he could be a friend with a superhero. (Possible, but didn’t explain why everyone else wasn’t doing it.)

Perhaps he just thought to make me feel welcome as he said. This was the most likely reason, but I still had a problem with it. The timing was weird. Usually, you’d try to immediately talk to the new girl, or wait a little until she was already more comfortable with the school. At least, Lisa said so.

At the same time, however, I longed for friends. I had the Undersiders, surely, some of the best friends I’ve ever had, but I still remember that time when me and Emma just talking about school, about things we liked, nothing that could get us arrested or killed: mundane stuff. And as much of a terrible person as Emma’s turned out to be, I missed that. Those small, conversations on things neither of us thought it was important, or, meaningful, but we talked just so we could listen to each other. It was small talk, in a way, but some sort of small talk between friends that had a reason to be.

Me and Lisa had that too, not as much as I had to Emma, but close enough. Except for one detail: her powers. While they made Lisa the perfect go-to person when you needed advice. Having said that, sometimes these conversations were just not the type you’d have with someone who could read you like a book. So, even though it probably wasn’t the best the decision, I made my mind.

All of this, of course, is _ex post facto_ , for there was only one second since he asked until I answered him, and my answer was just one word:

“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter a lot shorter than I wanted to be. Midterms, or at least that's the equivalent in the US.
> 
> I was more introspective in this chapter. What's your thoughts on it? Just like always, reviews, be them praise or criticism, are apreciated.
> 
> If you find mistake, I ask you to point it out so I can correct it.


End file.
